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Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Pythagoras: One of the Greatest Minds of His Time | Ancient Origins

Theodoros Karasavvas, J.D.-M.A. summarizes, "Pythagoras was one of the greatest minds and philosophers of his time
and his unquestionable influence can be felt even today in mathematics."

It is believed that he was the first man who referred to himself as a
“philosopher.” He was the founder of Pythagoreanism, a religious and
political movement that appeared mainly in the big cities of Magna
Grecia (today southern Italy).

The city of Croton was his base, and the great philosopher dedicated
his life to the spiritual and moral awakening and reformation of people
from all social classes and sexes. This means Pythagoras was one of the
most open-minded thinkers of his era.The Young PythagorasMany historians say that Pythagoras was born on the Greek island of Samos in 585 BC - even though the exact date remains uncertain. His parents named him Pythagoras after Pythia, the oracle of Delphi.

Like Socrates, Pythagoras didn’t leave behind any texts and this is
the main reason we don’t know many details about his life. Some
information about Pythagoras’s philosophy and teachings were told by
other historical figures from antiquity, such as Plato, Aristotle,
Heraclitus, Herodotus, and Isocrates. However, the main sources for his
biographical information are Diogenes Laërtius, Iamblichus, and
Porphyry.

A great deal of information about Pythagoras’ youth comes from Diogenes Laërtius and his book Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers:

“And as he was a young man, and devoted to learning,
he quitted his country, and got initiated into all the Grecian and
barbarian sacred mysteries. Accordingly, he went to Egypt, on which
occasion Polycrates gave him a letter of introduction to Amasis; and he
learnt the Egyptian language, as Antipho tells us, in his treatise on
those men who have been conspicuous for virtue, and he associated with
the Chaldaeans and with the Magi.Afterwards he went to Crete, and in
company with Epimenides, he descended into the Idaean cave, (and in
Egypt too, he entered into the holiest parts of their temples), and
learned all the most secret mysteries that relate to their Gods. Then he
returned back again to Samos, and finding his country reduced under the
absolute dominion of Polycrates, he set sail, and fled to Crotona in
Italy. And there, having given laws to the Italians, he gained a very
high reputation, together with his scholars, who were about three
hundred in number, and governed the republic in a most excellent manner;
so that the constitution was very nearly an aristocracy.”

Mathematical Teachings Despite his adventurous life as a young man, it’s his teachings,
theories, and contributions to science and mathematics that are most
important for us today. Pythagoras had very specific goals to achieve
through his teachings and he passionately tried to impart his knowledge
to his students so they could better understand the laws of nature. His
supporters and students, known as Pythagoreans, believed that the
essence of everything in life could be found in numbers and mathematics.Aristotle verifies this in Metaphysics, books 1 through 5, where he mentions among other things:

“The so-called Pythagoreans, who were the first to
take up mathematics, not only advanced this subject, but saturated with
it, they fancied that the principles of mathematics were the principles
of all things.”

Pythagoras was also a great inventor and is credited with a series of
innovations such as the Pythagorean Theorem, which cemented his legacy.
His theory is described mathematically as α2 = β2 + γ2 and says that:
“In a right- angled triangle the square of the long side is equal to the
sum of the squares of the other two sides.”

The theorem which now bears his name may have been invented in India
by Baudhayana around 800 BC - but only as an empirical observation. All
official historical sources concur that Pythagoras is the one who proved
and analyzed the theorem on a scientific basis by using theoretical
geometry, logical evidence, a ruler, and a compass as his tools.Pythagoras’s name is also connected with the Tetractys, which is
considered by many historians to be the essence of his teaching and the
sacred symbol of his followers. It consists of the numbers 1 through 10
arranged in four rows: one in the first row, two in the second, three in
the third, and four in the fourth.

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Hello, my name is Helge Scherlund and I am the Education Editor and Online Educator of this personal weblog and the founder of eLearning • Computer-Mediated Communication Center.
I have an education in the teaching adults and adult learning from Roskilde University, with Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) and Human Resource Development (HRD) as specially studied subjects. I am the author of several articles and publications about the use of decision support tools, e-learning and computer-mediated communication. I am a member of The Danish Mathematical Society (DMF), The Danish Society for Theoretical Statistics (DSTS) and an individual member of the European Mathematical Society (EMS). Note: Comments published here are purely my own and do not reflect those of my current or future employers or other organizations.